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Students in russian and French classrooms regularly have the opportunity to participate in and witness dialogues of the sort that encourage the development of competence in academic knowledge. power ful learning occurs because students have the opportunity to witness the whole process of thinking through a problem, much of it expressed in the words of a peer. As he notes, if it’s true that one only under- stands something properly if one can teach it to a child, how much more comprehensi- ble is something explained by a child for the benefi t of other children? Note that this student talk is not equiva- lent to ‘giving a speech,’ the most infamous form of which is the seminar paper infl icted on generations of university students. Rather it’s a tightly-structured discussion between teacher and student designed to lead the student through the steps of understanding and solving a problem. The teacher cannot watch discreetly from the back row and expect the same results witnessed by Robin Alexander and his team. In contrast to classrooms with such tightly-structured discussions, the English- speaking classroom is typically one where teachers desire to give everyone ‘a turn,’ with students working alone or in groups rather than as a whole class, but such an approach acts against the sorts of dialogues that promote learning. The desire to spread the chance to con- tribute as widely as possible during whole class question-and-answer sessions usu- ally leads to each child providing only one small ‘piece of the puzzle’ and never get- ting the opportunity to talk through ideas in a sustained way. Students also compete for the teachers’ attention or work hard to avoid detection where they have nothing to offer the discussion. They thus concentrate on their part of the puzzle rather than the whole picture or they withdraw and dis- engage. Either way, learning is less than optimal. Where students are working individu- ally or in groups, teachers under pressure to share out their time equally give each individual very little of it. Once again, the sorts of detailed feedback and extended exchanges that develop children’s knowl- edge and thinking are unlikely to occur. When students have to wait for the teacher’s 30 teacher january/february 2009 attention there’s also a good deal of ‘switch- ing off,’ leading frequently to misbehaviour of the sort that further eats into learning time. Signifi cantly, misbehaviour requiring disciplinary intervention was nearly non- existent in the Russian and French class- rooms the Five Nations team visited, but very frequent in American and English classrooms. Paradoxically, in American and English classrooms, teachers who were anxious not to wield the big stick of authority found themselves frequently required to do so, while French and Russian teachers, com- fortable with their authority, were able to proceed with few shows of force because students – mostly – had their minds on the job. Far from being switched off by watch- ing their classmates taking turns to be the class’s representative in dialogue with the teacher, students in Russia and France were attentive and motivated to learn. The stu- dents were also notable for the high levels of verbal communication skills they pos- sessed, a consequence of being expected to speak clearly and well for the benefi t of their classmates. Trials of dialogic teaching methods are underway in Britain and there are promis- ing signs that these will transfer well into English-speaking education systems. Trying to teach each child individually would seem to be a recipe for overwork- ing teachers and under-teaching children. Maybe it’s time to think about classroom challenges in a different way. T Dr Catherine Scott has taught in pri- mary and secondary schools and has also worked as a school counsellor. She currently teachers developmental and educational psychology. REFERENCES: Alexander, R. (2000). Culture and Pedagogy: International compari- sons in primary education. Oxford: Blackwell.